Nestled in the Black River valley with the Tug Hill Plateau to the east and the Adirondack Mountains to the west; Boonville traces its origin to the failure of a grand investment scheme. In the mid-1790s; Gerrit Boon; agent for the Holland Land Company; purchased vast acreage in northern New York; hoping to establish a plantation for the production of maple sugar. When that enterprise collapsed; Boon founded a settlement in the remote wilderness. Adopting a paternalistic stance; he attracted settlers by extending financial assistance to farmers; artisans; and tradesmen. The village soon prospered; and dairy farming became the dominant industry. With the arrival of a canal and railroad in the mid-1800s; Boonville expanded to become the largest town between Watertown and Utica. Around Boonville documents the growth of the village and surrounding area; with special attention to local landmarks and scenery; industry and recreation; prominent leaders; and ordinary citizens.
#2512417 in eBooks 2008-06-02 2008-06-02File Name: B0093EL6K2
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Family History raising GravensteinsBy OboeMy family raised apples in Forestville. Its wonderful to find a book about a place thats close to my heart.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The pictures themselves cannot tell their stories. so the captions do.By Gabor PorIve been to bookstores lots of times in California and was always glad to see a series of books displayed about the local towns. be they small or large. The series I am taking about have a sepia tone. they always the same size and the top has in large yellowish letter on black ground the name of the town it talks about. Until recently though I havent actually took any of them off their shelves and didnt pay a closer attention to them. I was just satisfied with the knowledge that when and if I want to learn more about a particular locale I will be able to do with the help of these books.When I returned from a European trip a few weeks ago I found one of these volumes at home. I still didnt ask whether we bought or got it. but was happy to "read" it. It is about the village we moved to last year: Forestville. I had put "reading" in quotation mark. because I realized that less reading is involved in this book than with others. because it is a picture book. Now I also know that the title of the series is "Images of America" by Arcadia Publishing and each volume contains almost exclusively photographs. with explanatory captions.This volume opens with a half a page acknowledgments and continues with a one and a half page introduction. The latter paints the history of the village from 1846 to 1962 with a big brush. just mentioning the key people. families and events in its short history. Then the pictures are organized around 8 themes. not necessarily chronologically: El Molino. Changing money. Early settlers. Making spirits. saving souls. Training minds. Wheels and rails. and Playground for San Francisco. The length of these se chapters varies between 6 and 24 pages.I had a swell time paging through this volume. The pictures themselves cannot tell their stories. so the captions help. Sometimes they did tell a short story. other times we barely learned the names of the people shown. I also paid attention at the end of the captions: courtesy of... I kept thanking mentally the people who kept these photographs and allowed to be used for this volume.Finally I want to thank Penny Huston. the founder of the Forestville Historical Society and the author of this book. Thanks to her I have a sense of the history of the place I am living. even though I dont know many locals. Yet.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A survey of a Sonoma county town that grew from the Spanish land grant to its current statusBy Midwest Book ReviewPenny Hutten and the Forestville Historical Society worked hard on FORESTVILLE. a survey of a Sonoma county town that grew from the Spanish land grant to its current status. Author Penny Hutten has been a 35-year resident of the town and founded the Forestville historical Society in 1999. Any Northern California collection specializing in regional California history will find this book invaluable.
